Appraisal Institute News

Financial statements should be used when appraising retail properties to determine the “durability of the current use” as Amazon and e-commerce threaten brick and mortar retail sales, according to a study published this week in The Appraisal Journal.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Dec. 4 that they are seeking comment on a proposal to raise the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $400,000.

Goldman Sachs sees only a 30 percent chance of a recession by 2020, the opposite of what other economists have been predicting, HousingWire reported Dec. 4. Goldman Sachs noted the biggest concerns focus on tariffs, labor inflation and pressure on margins and higher rates.

Multifamily housing and commercial real estate in large urban areas are the primary beneficiaries of capital raised through Opportunity Zone incentive programs aimed at boosting investment in needy areas, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies, MarketWatch reported Dec. 3.

The Appraisal Institute on Dec. 4 joined 17 other organizations in strongly opposing the National Credit Union Administration’s proposal to quadruple – from $250,000 to $1 million – the appraisal threshold for non-residential loans. AI said the threshold increase would drastically increase the number of non-residential real estate loans that would not require an appraisal.

The Appraisal Institute and the Land Trust Alliance co-signed a letter Nov. 29 urging congressional leaders to advance the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act, which would help maintain the integrity of conservation easement donations by closing an apparent loophole related to abusive syndicated tax shelters.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Nov. 26 ruled that the prohibition on appraiser bias contained in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and the Appraisal Institute’s Code of Ethics and Certification Standard, or the appearance of bias, applies only to individuals and not to an appraiser’s employer.

The nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers joined 17 other organizations Monday in saying it “strongly opposed” the National Credit Union Administration’s plan to reduce the number of non-residential real estate loans requiring appraisals.

Goldman Sachs expects the U.S. economy to slow in 2019, CNBC reported Nov. 19. The investment firm anticipates first quarter growth at 2.5 percent, but slowing to just 1.6 percent by the fourth quarter. However, the firm noted that the signs of a pending recession — overheating market and financial imbalances — haven’t materialized.